The Secret of a Mysterious Videotape from the Summer of 1997!

Tang Long became fascinated by Ronaldo's dribbling style.

During the morning training session, he had Manchester City's technical analyst record a video of him.

Upon returning, he repeatedly observed his own Pendulum Dribble in the footage.

Playback at 0.1x speed.

I watched it almost frame by frame.

After watching it, Tang Long pulled out a video of Ronaldo's Pendulum Dribble he had saved on his phone for a long time.

These two videos, spanning almost 20 years and showing different Pendulum Dribble, were constantly compared in front of Tang Long.

Through comparison, Tang Long could easily discover that although his pendulum was very similar to Ronaldo's, there seemed to be something missing.

Not only the pendulum, but other dribbling techniques, such as the common stepover, Matthews, and the simplest spiking, don't quite capture the essence of Ronaldo's style, and their deceptiveness is far inferior.

Especially those few swaying movements of the body.

Ronaldo's transitions were clearly superior to my own!

The rhythm is also better, just like a skilled dancer performing beautiful steps on stage.

Although he scored a brilliant goal against Liverpool in the final moments, using a pendulum to get past goalkeeper Mignolet;

But that was just Tang Long's best performance. In the end, when facing Everton's Stones, he made a few moves but couldn't get past him.

Tang Long stood up, put on his slippers, and started mimicking Ronaldo's movements on his phone screen in the living room.

He would watch the video for a while, then look at the movements of his feet.

Wipe, wipe, wipe!

Wipe, wipe, wipe!

The sound of slippers rubbing against the wooden floor was extremely grating.

After fiddling with it for a while, and sweating profusely, Tang Long was still not satisfied!

"Compared to Ronaldo's movements, my swings are still much stiffer; I just don't know where the problem lies."

"Unfortunately, there's very little material to feed the AI System, especially the pendulum move. After leaving Inter Milan, Ronaldo, whose knee was ruined, almost never used that signature move anymore."

Tang Long had already tried to learn from Ronaldo himself, but Ronaldo had been retired for many years and had become as fat as a basketball. He couldn't even dribble past anyone anymore, and he would sweat after running a few steps. He couldn't reproduce the dribbling moves he had almost done twenty years ago, and he almost injured himself in the process.

"Ding-dong!"

The doorbell rang.

Tang Long opened the door and found it was a deliveryman from nearby.

"Is this Mr. Tang Long? There's a package here from Milan, please sign for it!"

"Milan's delivery service? I haven't ordered anything recently."

After Tang Long signed for the package, he looked at the white parcel in his hand.

He initially thought...

This package arrived from Milan.

Perhaps it was something Bonazzoli sent him, because he had asked Bonazzoli a few days ago if he could buy him some local Milan coffee beans, since the coffee from UK wasn't quite as good.

But this package doesn't look very heavy; it's light and doesn't seem like food.

Out of curiosity, I opened it and found a DVD inside!

"Well?"

Tang Long found it strange.

It's almost 2015 already, who still uses CDs these days?

Besides, I didn't buy any DVDs!

A note fell from the case containing the discs onto the floor.

Tang Long bent down and picked it up; there were some words written on the note in hasty handwriting.

[Dear Tang, hello!]

[A former colleague of mine in the Inter Milan film analysis team was cleaning out the film analysis room's storage when he unexpectedly found a disc pressed against the bottom of a cardboard box in a corner.]

[The content is a video recorded by the coaching staff in the summer of 1997, after your agent Ronaldo transferred from Barca to Inter Milan, showing him dribbling skills on the training field.]

[This video features a breakdown of his amazing slow-motion moves, in which he explains some of the dribbling techniques I like to use.]

[Furthermore, Ronaldo used several of the team's top defenders as examples, including Zanetti, Bergomi, Simeone, and Ferrari, to explain in detail how to use different dribbling techniques when facing defenders with different characteristics.]

[I know you've always enjoyed watching videos to learn football techniques, so I got this copy of the disc. I hope it will help you improve faster on the field!]

[Your good friend Chivu, who has always been cheering you on]

Tang Long stood there, stunned.

He held the letter from Chivu in his left hand and checked it repeatedly; it was indeed Chivu's handwriting.

He held the CD in his right hand.

I was in a daze for a moment.

Is this true?

He looked at the unremarkable disc in his hand.

A small piece of paper, about the size of the tip of a little finger, was pasted on it.

It reads "[1997. Inter. Ronaldo]".

The small note was slightly yellowed.

The handwriting is blurry and illegible, only vaguely discernible.

Tang Long's house didn't have one of those old-fashioned DVD players.

He rushed out the door.

I spent an entire afternoon asking around.

I finally found a working DVD player at a flea market in Parma!

He put the disc into the machine.

Then all the curtains in the house windows were drawn.

With a feeling of unease and anxiety.

I pressed play!

"Sizzle--"

"Sizzle--"

The disc spun in the DVD player, emitting an old-fashioned electromechanical sound.

The television screen gradually brightened from black to white.

It illuminated Tang Long's facial features.

It also illuminated the dimly lit living room, where the curtains were drawn and the lights were off.

A line of Italy text appeared on the screen.

[Internal document, strictly prohibited from being distributed]

[Copyright owner: Inter Milan Football Club]

What came into Tang Long's view was Ronaldo in 1997!

He was wearing Inter Milan's number 9 training jersey, chatting and laughing with several coaches on the training ground at the Meazza.

The image quality is somewhat blurry, at most 360P resolution.

A male voice came from off-screen:

"This is a recording of Ronaldo's dribbling training sessions burned by the Inter Milan coaching staff."

"In this video, Ronaldo will demonstrate his dribbling skills in detail through slow-motion breakdowns, as well as his personal understanding of the technique of getting past opponents."

"The videotape is divided into four parts."

"The first part is Ronaldo's dribbling skills during high-speed sprints."

"The second part is the transition from static to dynamic dribbling techniques."

"The third part is about how to find a breakthrough when facing multiple opponents."

"The fourth part features Inter Milan center-backs such as Bergomi, Zanetti, and Ferrari sharing their insights on defending against Ronaldo."

After the subtitles disappeared.

The camera cut to a close-up of Ronaldo.

Ronaldo was thin, upright, and had a pointed chin. He smiled and waved to the camera.

(Ronaldo waves to the camera from Inter Milan's training ground)

Although the image quality is quite blurry due to its age.

However, a clear gap can still be seen between Ronaldo's large front teeth.

"Ronaldo, show us your high-speed dribbling skills!" The voice-over seems to be from the person filming.

Ronaldo said in his unique, deep, and magnetic voice:

"Okay, when dribbling at high speed, I like to use pendulum techniques, Step Over, and other similar moves to get past opponents. The key is to combine body speed with the rhythm of the feints, and then make that final decisive dash to shake off the opponent."

"Here's the ball, Ronaldo!"

The photographer passed the ball to Ronaldo, and the camera shook slightly.

The following scene.

A huge amount of information!

Tang Long was completely absorbed.

They didn't even dare to blink.

I'm afraid of missing a single second!

Ronaldo deliberately slowed down his movements.

It was done in a way that was almost like SportMediaset in a movie.

Show off your amazing skills to the camera.

"Pendulum Dribble, the key point isn't actually how much it swings from side to side."

Ronaldo slowly took a step, then turned to the camera and said:

"My personal experience is that the key to a striker's ability to deceive opponents on the football field lies in the change of rhythm, not in how fast they are."

"For example, when my Pendulum Dribble, it usually swings three times."

"I will use the same frequency for the first and second swaying motions, but on the third sway, I will suddenly take a bigger step and increase the amplitude of the swaying motion!"

"It's important to note that the swaying of the arms and shoulders is just as important as the swaying of the feet!"

Left!

Right!

Left!

Call--

In his final step, Ronaldo took an extremely large step!

It felt as if my whole body was about to be thrown off.

This sudden change in rhythm.

Even though Tang Long was watching it on television, he felt his whole body tremble!

"So that's how it is! This is the Ronaldo!"

Previously, his pendulum swinging motion had been imitating Ronaldo, and indeed, the imitation was very similar.

However, unlike Ronaldo, Tang Long's left and right pendulum swings, although consciously changing in amplitude with each step, still lacked a certain rhythm.

More importantly, they didn't pay attention to the swinging of their arms!

Without Ronaldo's full-body rhythm!

That's the key point.

Detail!

"Alright, then let's have Zanetti coordinate with Ronaldo and do some practical training!"

The camera cleverly shifts focus to Javier Zanetti, the Argentina full-back who stands casually on the sidelines with his hands on his hips, exuding confidence and style.

Rewind to 1997, when he was only 24 years old, in the prime of his youth. His short, jet-black hair shone in the sunlight, and his face was as smooth as ever, without a trace of time.

On this training ground, perhaps no one could have predicted that this young man from Argentina would dedicate his most precious years of football to Inter Milan for nineteen years!

He not only became the foreign player with the most appearances in the club's history, but also led the team to an unprecedented treble, forging an eternal spiritual legend.

After retiring in 2014, he continued to serve as vice chairman, safeguarding this blue-black land.

His number 4 jersey, like his legend, will be forever remembered by Inter Milan, hung high, retired and immortalized.

At this moment, Zanetti in the picture looks slightly nervous, his youthful smile revealing a hint of shyness, both warm and slightly bashful.

"Okay, I'll give it a try!" he agreed softly.

As Ronaldo delivered a precise pass to Zanetti, a contest of skill and wit quietly began.

Zanetti quickly passed the ball back, and Ronaldo, like the Cheetah, seized the opportunity and sprinted forward with the ball.

When the distance between the two shrinks to just 1.5 meters, a visual feast is about to unfold.

Ronaldo seemed to transform into a martial arts master treading on the river, his body swaying lightly, managing to sway six times in a row!

The pendulum swings six times, each time different, flowing smoothly like clouds and water. Each swing is like a dragonfly skimming the water, both light and powerful.

His movements were sometimes as swift as lightning, and sometimes as slow as flowing water;

The body's movements vary greatly in amplitude, making them dazzling and unpredictable!

Tang Long rewound the videotape and restarted it. He discovered that Ronaldo's arms, upper body, hips, thighs, and calves were all swinging back and forth like a pendulum from top to bottom. Each part of his body was perfectly connected, and there was no superfluous movement in any position. Every movement served to enhance the deceptive effect.

Zanetti tried his best to retreat and maintain a solid defense, but under Ronaldo's unpredictable attacking rhythm, his footwork gradually became chaotic and his center of gravity swayed.

In that split second, Ronaldo seized the opportunity and with a final, powerful dribble to the right!

His movements were clean and swift, like a flash of a blade, instantly breaking through Zanetti's defense.

Zanetti was faked out and fell to the ground!

"Beautiful!" The photographer exclaimed, filled with genuine appreciation for this perfect lesson. "This was truly a brilliant demonstration; every detail was textbook-perfect!"

In the precious time that followed, Ronaldo seemed to transform into a magician of football skills, with top defensive masters like Bergomi and Simeone as his partners on the stage, together weaving a magnificent chapter about the art of dribbling.

He demonstrated each movement, from the graceful leap of Step Over over a pedestrian;

The confidence with which one can masterfully control space and time when dribbling past an opponent;

The Cheetah -like sense of direction that shifts rapidly between sudden stops and turns;

The dazzling footwork variations in the "Flip Flap" technique;

Every movement was like a meticulously crafted work of art, breathtaking in its beauty.

However, what Tang Long truly felt was the extraordinary nature of this lesson, which went far beyond Ronaldo's amazing skills!

What surprised and delighted Tang even more was that, in order to capture every subtle movement of this football genius from all angles, the Inter Milan coaching staff arranged five cameras, like five loyal recorders, closely recording Ronaldo from five completely different perspectives.

They capture the thunderous strike from the front, follow the graceful silhouette from behind, outline the elegant shape from the side, and even take in the whole scene from above.

In terms of distance, it offers both panoramic views from afar and close-up shots, ensuring that every detail, even every muscle contraction, is perfectly recorded!

This is a true 360-degree, all-around, no-blind-spot display!

Although the resolution isn't as good as today's high-definition cameras, it's sufficient.

This was unprecedented in the film material that Tang Long had received in the past.

The videos he can see are usually from the standard perspective of a sports broadcast.

There are occasional close-ups, but at most only one or two angles, which are far less detailed and thorough than this videotape.

Moreover, Ronaldo not only amazed viewers with his unparalleled skills, but also frequently stopped to explain things directly to the camera;

Like a kind mentor, he meticulously recounted the mental journey behind each of his dribbling skills, revealing the difficulties and pain points behind those movements, and how he gradually broke through himself to reach the pinnacle of his craft.

It's clear that Inter Milan's coaching staff came prepared and put a lot of effort into this videotape!

However, it is regrettable that such precious information was kept sealed away for 18 years for unknown reasons, like a lost gem silently waiting for the chance to see the light of day again in the long river of time. This is undoubtedly a great waste of its value.

Fortunately, the treasure eventually fell into Tang Long's hands.

To others, this might just be a fleeting spectacle.

But in Tang Long's hands, it will be given a new life, becoming a precious source of nourishment for his AI brain, and realizing its full potential.

This videotape was like a key tailor-made for Tang Long, unlocking the door to a higher level of football skills for him!

(I could have finished all three chapters before 7:30, but I suddenly have to go out because of an urgent matter. I probably won't get home until almost 10 p. m., so the third chapter will be updated later.)